Compact low-profile circularly polarised AMC-integrated cavity reflector wideband antenna for potential conceivable 6G access

Abstract

A compact, low-profile artificial magnetic conductor (AMC)-integrated wideband antenna has been proposed for underutilised (7–8) GHz and upgraded potential 6G-band access. The design comprises of paired 90° top-bottom dipole antennas conjoined with quarter-circular loops to imitate circularly polarised radiated waves. The dipole configurations are embedded on polygonal-shaped dielectric, and an AMC cavity reflector has been asserted for overall performance enhancement. Each AMC periodic unit cells are successively arranged in 4×4 array with canterburry-cross (CC) topology. The AMC unit-cell with CC-shape asserts dominant reflection phase (ϕref) zero cross-over at 7.4 GHz with ±90° reflection magnitude (ϕMag) ranging from 6 to 8 GHz, exhibiting the potential bandwidth region. The design offers a wide 10-dB operating band of 6.5–9.5 GHz, 3-dB axial ratio from 5.8–9.25 GHz, peak boresight primary left-hand-circular-polarisation (LHCP) radiation gain of 10.6 dBic and radiation efficiency > 90%. A prototype fabricated antenna of size 50 mm × 50 mm × 10 mm has been experimented and the outcomes effectively correlate with simulated results. The potential validations show excellent performance merits to be exploited in the golden band of 6G access.